Ralph Schmitt grew up in New Jersey, but spoke only German until he was kindergarten age.

In fact, his parents moved from an enclave of German immigrants in Newark to Scotch Plains so that Schmitt and his younger sister could experience a more traditional American childhood.

"My mother today is still very much, 'if you immigrate here, you have to learn the language,' " Schmitt said.

Being first-generation American influenced his character and work ethic, which have led him to his post as chief executive of Sunnyvale's PLX, a maker of digital information connectors.

But the biggest factor in forging his future, he said, was the sudden death of his father when Schmitt was about 11.

"I think it's more of a European upbringing - I kind of felt responsible for my family," he said. "My mother went to work full time, but I worked part time and I went to school. I had a number of jobs that you probably shouldn't do when you're that age" - for example, driving a forklift at age 13 in the tool and die factory where his father had worked.

"That influenced me quite a bit, because they gave me the opportunity to learn how to program robots, and that's how I got interested in electrical engineering," said Schmitt, who would go on to study the subject at Rutgers, the state university of New Jersey.

"It was pretty critical to my development," Schmitt said of his time in the metal factory. "They gave me a lot of responsibility early on, surprisingly. It's a lesson I learned that I use today - people are much more capable to do more than people realize. I often try to push as much decision-making down the organization as possible."

Schmitt recalled how company recruiters were "blown away" by his photo album of all the robots he had built. They weren't the only ones impressed by Schmitt - in college, he was drafted as a player for the North American Soccer League.

"Eventually I had to seriously make a decision between a professional athletic career and a professional career, and I chose a professional career because I thought it would have longer legs," said Schmitt, who still plays on two amateur teams - one indoor and one outdoor to span the whole year - typically center midfield, and usually against players much younger.

It's no coincidence, he believes, that successful athletes often go on to become leaders in the corporate world.

"I think it's the competitive nature of that type of individual, as well as the team aspect," he said.

Schmitt also credits his wife, Sara, whom he met through their common love of making music, as a secret to his success. "We've been soul mates for 30 years," he said.

These days, Schmitt feeds his musical fix playing keyboard in the rock cover band The Shanks, made up of Silicon Valley workers who met on a golf course. His favorites: Jimi Hendrix, Stevie Ray Vaughan and - to mix things up - Emerson, Lake and Palmer.

At the office, Schmitt turns his energy to building PLX into more of a global company and protecting its ability to grow on the research and development side.

"It is a reality of the business that more and more of the growth is coming out of other parts of the world," he said. "You really need to have a local presence."

PLX has been making digital switches and bridges since 1994 and is publicly traded on the Nasdaq. On Thursday, the last day of active trading for the week, it had a market cap of $197.34 million, and shares closed at $5.33 - more than double their 52-week low of $2.62.

"The best way to describe what we do is we build components that sit in electronic equipment that allow two different systems to interconnect and communicate," Schmitt said. "There's really two parts of our business: One is in data centers which are used on the Internet. ... We connect all the different systems within the data center. The other piece of our business is actually in your home. When you have a hard drive for your computer, our devices manage that."

And exactly how does a CEO, who in his 1 1/2-year tenure led his company through its best quarter ever last year, have time for all this?

He doesn't sleep. Or no more than five hours a night.

"This is the type of job that's all-consuming," he said. "I enjoy that. I guess I just like to be active at all times."

Ralph Schmitt

Age: 49

Work: CEO, PLX, Sunnyvale

Family: Wife, Sara; daughters Amanda, 15, Alex, 13

Residence: South San Jose

Boards: PLX; chairman of the board for the nonprofit Build, which teaches underprivileged high school students how to build a company

Quote: "Competition: I thrive on it."

Can't live without: His wife.

Hobbies: Racing, cars and motorcycles, flying, planes, playing keyboard in the rock cover band The Shanks.